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Technical Issues
Links
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Process
A Microsoft Access database holds all the menu and section structure. Newer pages are also
created as database records, which are then served up as ASP pages (as are the menus and contents pages).
This allows a central update. As the hosting I have doesn't support ASP, the 'live' ASP page is then
saved as a PHP page by a custom Visual Basic program. All new pages and images are then
uploaded using the same custom Visual Basic program. It has been a pain to set up, but should make
future modifications much easier.
PHP on the server means that page elements such as menus can be saved as a single file and
then linked into multiple pages.
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Links
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If you want to link to this site from your own, then you can use the banner below. I am always happy to consider reciprocal links, so get in touch.
The new page format will allow 'deep' linking, where the address points directly to a particular page, not
just to http://www.warfactory.co.uk
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Viewing the site
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Browser Compatibility
Most of this site has been designed for Internet Explorer 5.0, so I can use stylesheets and overlayed text.
I have tested this site with Navigator 4.6. The navigation bar doesn't animate and the drop shadowed text on the galleries is a real mess, and some text formatting is wrong generally. Newer galleries will be formatted to deal with this, but for the moment it is best to stick to Internet Explorer. To be honest I can't be bothered to optimise for different browsers on a site I'm not getting paid for. Sorry about that.
Fonts
The site uses a few of the Windows fonts - if you're viewing this on a newish PC (less than 5 years old) then there shouldn't be a problem. Macs, 486s, Amigas etc. may not have them.
Javascript
The navigation bar uses a bucket of Javascript, and will not look nearly as exciting if you disable Javascript (or are using a really old browser that doesn't support it), however, I think you should still be able to get around the site.
The side menus are now collapsible, but this function also requires Javascript, you will need to bring up the contents page for the whole section.
How the site is constructed
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Hosting
This site is hosted by Freedom2Surf, who also
supply my broadband. They aren't the cheapest, but you get an excellent quality service, with a very
well featured basic package.
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©2005. All rights reserved.
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